“A Queen of the people,” a familiar voice called behind me.
Spinning, I saw that Mara stood in the open blue doorway to my home.
Her face looked sullen, and I wondered if Liam told her what happened when he no doubt asked her to transport them all home.
“I’ll meet you outside,” I told Kira and Elle.
I wanted a moment alone with Mara.
When they left out the front door, I walked over to Mara, lip quivering. “Did he tell you?”
Mara’s brow furrowed. “Liam? Tell me what, about your fight?”
I nodded and she shook her head. “He just said that he was no longer wanted here, took his mother and his family, and had me drop him off in North Carolina. Then, May told me you exploded with power and were now being crowned. What happened?”
He took his mom too? Wow, he really didn’t trust me.
My throat tightened, and I promised myself not to get emotional or let this bother me one second longer. Stepping closer to where Mara stood, I took in a deep breath. “Liam killed my mother.”
Mara gasped, gripping the edge of the doorframe. “What?” She looked at me with disbelief, and it broke my heart.
I nodded. “So… I asked him to leave.” I held my chin high.
Mara looked utterly confused. “But… are you sure it was him? Liam?”
“He told me himself! Admitted it!” My anger rose inside of me.
“Yes, but what if—”
“Mara, please!” I rubbed my temples as tears lined my eyes. “I’ve had all that I can possibly handle today,” I told her.
She nodded. “Okay, hun. Okay.” She reached a hand out, through the doorway, and I squeezed it, gaining some strength from her touch.
“Be ready to transport us to New York. I want those crystals back immediately,” I told her, hearing more strength in my voice.
She nodded. “I’ll be in my office, waiting.”
With that, I walked out into town and into a future I wasn’t sure I was ready for.
The ceremony was weird but quick. Everyone bowed as I walked by and cheered when Trissa placed an honest to gods crown on my head. A crown that belonged to the Queen, which I wore for two minutes as I accepted my oath and duty to lead Faerie before I quickly took it off. Now it was back with Kira and the sleeping Queen while I, along with my pathetic fae army of seven, was squeezed into Mara’s office.
Trissa, Elle, Jasper, myself, and three others. Three. That’s how many people I trusted to be trained enough not to get killed. Anyone else decent I left behind to protect Faerie.
“We have arrived in New York!” Mara trilled as the three new fae looked around her office with wonder.
“You guys stay here. We’ll be right back,” I told the three. One was a baker with broad shoulders and strong arms. The other two were farmers. A dude and his sister. Both quiet but calculating. None of them really spoke much, for which I was grateful.
With that, Trissa, Elle, Jasper, and I headed out into New York.
“I hate this gods-forsaken city.” Jasper gave each passerby the stink eye as we passed, causing Elle to smirk.
“Why?” Elle asked.
“It smells like dog pee when it rains, and the normies are…. everywhere. You can’t escape them.” A woman got too close to him, and he shrank away as if she had cooties.
“Elitist,” Trissa snarled.
Jasper nodded as if the comment made him proud. I liked the city. It was thriving and alive.
I ignored their banter as we wound through the city streets and into Central Park. “It’s just up he—”
My words died in my throat at the sight of the yellow caution tape blocking off the Shakespeare Garden. A police officer stood at the entrance, arms crossed over his chest. Our group slowed as the cop’s gaze tracked us, and Trissa and Jasper splintered off on their own as Elle and I stopped. “Hey… what happened? This is my favorite spot,” I asked the cop whose eyes were still on Jasper and his snake tattoo.
“Sorry, kid. Some thugs trashed the place. It’s closed until it can be restored.” His voice was gruff, and I stood on my tiptoes to peer behind him at the stone. My stomach sank as I gazed upon the Seeker Stone… or what was once the Seeker Stone. Now it was cracked in half, two sides of the metal plaque broken on the grassy floor.
Fuck.
“Alright… thanks,” I muttered.
Elle and I turned around and walked back to the entrance of the park where Trissa and Jasper were waiting. My mind was racing a mile a minute. Liam wouldn’t destroy the stone, would he? No.
It was the Winter King. Probably before he came and took all the crystals. Dammit!
“What’s with the Po-Po?” Jasper glared in the direction of the cop.
“The Seeker Stone is broken,” I growled.
“Winter King?” Jasper questioned.
“Probably.”
“We will have to go about it the old-fashioned way then. Come on.” Trissa gave us a curt nod and spun on her boots, heading back to the apartment.
“What’s the old fashioned way?” I asked.
“We go city to city, country to country, until you get a feeling,” she declared.
Oh, gods. That could take a lifetime.
Coeur D’Alene, Seattle, Portland, they all came up with nothing. In each city, we did a two-hour sweep, first with my feet buried in the earth calling on my seeker power and then blindly driving around and searching for a pull, anything to let me know the crystals were near.
“Maybe we should take a break?” Mara suggested, eyeing Trissa and Elle, who looked dead on their feet.
I shook my head. “No. Let’s sweep the entire country from the West Coast inward. Phoenix next, please.” I clipped into my seat in her office, preparing for the pull of the room as Mara traveled us through space and into another state.
Trissa and Elle strapped in too. We’d long lost the two farmers and the baker. They were resting inside Mara’s house with Bashur. Too much of a day for them.
“I wish I had a spell to find the crystals, but they are magically protected from prying eyes. Only a seeker can feel or find them,” Jasper called from his place perched on the edge of Mara’s desk.
The keeper of the portals glared at him, and I was surprised they had kept it so cordial up to this point. “Strap in, or prepare to be thrown across the room,” Mara growled.
I noticed Mara never needed to strap in, something which fascinated me.
Jasper’s bottom lip stuck out. “You used to be fun.”
She raised her wrists, showcasing the cuffs there. “Yeah, well, lifelong imprisonment will do that.”
Lifelong imprisonment.
Oh, my gods, I was so fucking selfish. I’d just been crowned Queen, and in my first five minutes, I should have ordered Indra to free Mara. What was wrong with me?
“Mara, shit. I forgot.” I rubbed my temples. “When we get back, I’ll order Indra to free you.”
She gave me a sad smile. “The cuffs are life bound. They only come off in the event of my death.”
What the fuck?
Indra made cuffs that powerful? And I merely kicked her out of the Tree of Life home but let her continue to waltz around Faerie? Some Queen I was turning out to be. That was seriously messed up. And she’d made two more pairs for Liam and me!